This invention relates to adjustable jaw type plier wrenches, wherein the jaws may be readily adjusted to any of several preset positions, and more particularly, to improvements in the structure of jaw type plier wrenches, resulting in the safer operation of plier wrenches by preventing injury to the hand of the operator from overtravel of the oppositely-mounted handles during normal use of the tool.
Adjustable jaw type plier wrenches commonly available comprise a pair of crossed jaw-handle members that are pivoted at a fixed offset point. There is ordinarily no common provision supplied to protect the operator's hand from a crushing injury during the process of gripping and manipulating of the workpiece in the jaws of such an adjustable plier wrench. There is no means to limit the inward travel of the jaw-handle members of the prior art plier wrenches of the adjustable jaw type. This absence of an inward overtravel stop member has resulted in numerous crushing injuries to the hand of the operator while using this type of adjustable cam-operating jaw type plier wrenches.
Stops broadly in single pivoted tongs are shown in some prior art such, for example, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,041,353 and 1,101,181 but their location between the handles may interfere with proper manipulation of the tool.